David Laidlaw has just been awarded a prestigious Henry Merritt Wriston Fellowship for 2003-04. These fellowships are awarded to junior non-tenured members of the faculty either to recognize significant accomplishments in innovative teaching or for curricular improvements. They may also facilitate the preparation of new contributions to the undergraduate curriculum. The recipient of a Henry Merritt Wriston Fellowship receives one semester "leave on special assignment" at full compensation, including retirement contributions.
In his nomination of David for this honor, chair Eli Upfal stressed his contributions and devotion to undergraduate education. In particular, he pointed to David's innovative Brown/RISD course with Fritz Drury of RISD's Illustration Department. In this course computer science and art students worked together to develop new ideas for the visual presentation of fluid-flow data, using the traditional art-class approach of "crits" to evaluate and refine the designs, and always working in teams (one RISD design student, one Brown CS student) on the assignments.
Congratulations, David!
